951 Gaspra
| Orbital characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Orbit type | Main belt (Flora family) |
| Semimajor axis | 2.20997 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.17331 |
| Orbital period | 3.29 Years |
| Inclination | 4.10284° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Diameter | 19×12×11 km |
| Mass | 1.0×1016 kg |
| Density | ? g/cm3 |
| Rotation period | 7h 5m 30s |
| Spectral class | S |
| Albedo | 0.22 |
| History | |
| Discoverer | G. N. Neujmini, 1916 |
951 Gaspra (asteroid 951) is an S-type asteroid that orbits in the inner edge of the asteroid belt.
| NASA image. |
This asteroid was visited by the Galileo probe on October 29, 1991 as it flew by on its way to Jupiter. It has half a dozen large concavities which resemble craters, though there is some debate whether these are the result of impacts or whether they are instead facets formed when Gaspra broke off of its parent asteroid. In the weak, lopsided gravity of Gaspra impact craters would naturally take on such flat, lopsided shapes, making this determination difficult.
Gaspra was discovered by Grigoriy N. Neujamin in 1916. Neujamin named Gaspra after a Black Sea retreat that was visited by his contemporaries such as Gorky and Tolstoy.
